on having a daughter

I always saw myself as the mother that would end up with all boys.

Coming from a house of all girls, it just seemed like it would be a better "fit" for me ...  Something that I'd be able to keep up with and wholly enjoy.

I guess it all stems from the fact that I've never been very girly ...

Ponytails were my hairstyle of choice. 

Powdering my face with dust from the softball field was more appealing than powdering it with actual make-up.

Skirts and dresses were for funerals.

Batman was way cooler than My Little Pony.

Boys were better left as friends ... And nothing more (a stance I held until I was seventeen).

So, being a mother to all boys just made sense.  It was something that would be comfortable ...  Maybe even easy.

Yet, now that I have a daughter, I am seeing myself in a whole different light.  I may have been a tomboy for most of my life, but I have a lot to offer a girl of my own ...

There is strength in "being your own person" and never really following the crowd (even if the crowd consists of a bunch of teenage girls).

A brain and some confidence are sexier than a trendy outfit.

It is possible to fulfill multiple obligations (to be mother, wife, friend, sister, daughter, working woman) ...  And to fulfill them well!

The longer I am greeted by Pearl's smiling face each morning, the more I realize how silly I was to think raising a girl would be inherently harder than raising a boy. 

While I am well aware that the challenges are spread out before me, the most important things remain the same. 

Any child of mine will need to have esteem and self-worth, to know that they are valuable exactly as they are. 

Any child of mine will know unconditional love, no matter what trouble (or lack of trouble) they find themselves in.

Boy or girl, I will be the best mother I can be.

So, although I didn't expect this life (I fully expected Pearl to be a boy), I am so happy that it is mine.

When Pearl arrived, my entire universe changed.  Our family changed, and with it, so did my attitude about "daughters being difficult."

We may only be three months in, but I can honestly say that I am proud to be the mother of a daughter.

I am excited to see where this journey will take us!